Page 82 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“It’s all clear,” Cash said as he walked up behind us. “We should tie up the horses and see if Rae found any food and water for them.”

“What if there isn’t any?”

“They can graze on grass. We won’t be staying long anyway.”

“When you say we won’t be staying long, do you mean a day or a few hours?”

“Why?” he asked.

“Well…my ass really hurts,” I pouted, nearly in tears. “I hate to sound like the diva that can’t hack it. That’s not me at all, but my ass really hurts. And the thought of getting back on that horse makes me want to run away from you.”

His whole face was working hard not to laugh at me. I would have laughed too if I didn’t find the whole thing so damn irritating. He walked over to me and slipped his hand around my waist. “Barring any unforeseen complications, we won’t be leaving until we have a plan. Does that work with you?”

I did my best not to break down in tears as I nodded at him. I felt like I was slowly morphing into a different person. I used to be a loner, terrified of my own shadow. Now, I was racing though the countryside on horseback, making friends with people that killed others with no thought—Maybe that wasn’t fair. They were protecting me and themselves. But still, I hardly recognized the woman I had morphed into over the past few weeks. In such a short time, I had made friends, become involved with a man, and broken out of the shell I had been hiding behind for the past few years. I couldn’t say I was unhappy with the change, just that it was disturbing how quickly this group of people had helped me transition into the woman I was now.

And that had me thinking, what was next?

26

CASH

“From what I can tell,I think this guy, Daniel, is hiding in Idaho. It’s hard to say for sure, but that’s my best guess,” Rae said, pointing at the map laid out before us. “If we leave early tomorrow morning, we should reach him by nightfall, assuming the traffic isn’t too terrible.”

“What about the horses?” Eva asked. “How do we get them back to their owners?”

“Anonymous call,” Jones grunted. “I memorized the number a long time ago.”

“Why?” Eva asked in confusion.

“Because he’s a paranoid bastard,” I interjected. “He’s had this escape planned out for a long time.”

I folded the map and tucked it away. We were out of supplies, we had no vehicle, and not enough weapons to keep us safe if Rafe found us again.

“We’ll need to keep moving. Tonight, we’ll rest, but we’ll leave before the sun rises. We need to find a vehicle.”

“Already gotcha covered.”

“Of course you do,” I muttered to Jones.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you chose the route I would have taken. Would you like to go back to my cabin and choose a different route, one I haven’t prepared for?”

I rolled my eyes at him, but I wasn’t angry. I was just glad we were getting along at the moment. “I’m getting Eva settled in and then I’ll take over for Fox on watch.”

“I can do it,” Rae piped up.

“I appreciate that, but we’re going to need your skills sharp tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

She gave a nod and headed over to the couch. It didn’t take long for her to stretch out under a blanket and doze off. Jones headed outside, so I took Eva to the bedroom and checked the room one last time, even though I knew it was secure. You could never be too careful.

“Cash, what are we doing?” Eva asked in a small voice as I walked over to the window and checked it one last time.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…aren’t you having doubts? All this running from one place to another. Your company was blown up and your team is in hiding…All for what?”

I spun around to face her, my eyes narrowing in on her sad face. “All for us,” I gritted out. “This isn’t just about you anymore, Eva. I know you think all this is happening because of you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m here because my place is beside you. And my team is here because their place is beside me. That’s just the way it is. Nothing’s going to change that.”

“But…what if this doesn’t go like we hope? What if we never find this guy, and then we never find Noah or my aunt?”

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